Black Dog Trail Run

   This morning was in the inaugural Black Dog Trail Run, at Stocksdale Park in Liberty, Mo. It was sponsored by Rock & Run Brewery. Rich and I ran the 10k (two loops of the 5k course). It wasn't as technical as a lot of the trail runs I'm used to, but had a lot of ups & downs, some hairpin turns, and a couple of very narrow wooden bridges—and a LOG—to run across.
   The ups & downs, combined with the very warm temperatures, are what made the run challenging. Today's high was at least 85 degrees, so by race time (10 am), it was warm, and as soon as we started running, we were cooking. Mile 90 photography got some nice shots of the pretty, wooded, sunny course.

   We crossed the finish line right around 1:05:00... quick enough for Rich to come in third for the guys! Woohoo! Not only did he earn bragging rights, he earned an extra 10 bucks off lunch at Rock & Run Brewery. 

   Official results say: I was 4th in my age group, 5th woman overall, 7th place overall, with an average of 10:36/mile, 1:05:50 chip time (despite this being slower than my app time… hmm.) Anyway, it was a hilly course with more heat than I like, so I will take it!!!
   I'm pretty much in awe of the top woman overall, in my age group, who averaged 3 MINUTES per mile faster than me. Holy cow, that chica is a BEAST! Congratulations to Victoria!

   After our conquest, we headed over there for an icy cold porter (for him) and a Grand Teton Snarling Badger cider (for me). With sandwiches to soak it up.